There have been some changes to the original roster though, due to injuries.

OUT:-Steve Cherundolo needs to rest a long term groin injury.-Stuart Holden was on the wrong end of a horrible tackle at Bolton and needed 26 stitches to patch up the inside of his left knee. He is done for the season and will not be ready for the Gold Cup either.-Zak Whitbread needs rest for an injury to his back side ribs he suffered a couple weeks back.

Both Cherundolo and Whitbread could have played if it was a huge game.

IN:-Eric Licha, the young right fullback who is on loan at Leeds from Aston Villa.

Matches & Scores:-Sat Mar 19Atletico Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid - again the Madrid derby wasn't much of a challenge for Real.Dortmund 1-1 Mainz - Dortmund again drop points when they could have iced the league already. Its not over yet.Lyon 1-1 Rennes - the draw drops them both one rung in the stadings to #4 hosts #3.-Sun Mar 20Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City - #5 v #4 swap spots in the standings to #4 and #5.Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Villarreal - the win moves Villa back to #3 on goal differential.Marsielle 2-1 PSG - the win jumps the Martians to 2nd place!

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

The Seattle Sounders beach soccer team beat Sporting of Portugal 4-0 today at the Beach Soccer Club World Cup!!!!!

Josh Wolff of DC United played one of the most complete games I have ever seen from him. Every minute he was on the field was nearly flawless. He attacked, he defended, he passed and most importantly he hounded the Columbus defense into a huge mistake on which he capitalized with a goal. A great performance from a veteran that used a change of scenary in his career to full effect. It will be very interesting to see where this season takes him and DCU.

MY THOUGHTS

Van v TFC:-DDR has a new haircut - sorta Chia-ish. But it doesn't affect his amazing goal scoring abilities! He collects #8000 in MLS history. It means nothing, but he is one of the all time best so why not put his name on it.-Things look fantastic in Vancouver. Even showering the field with beer cups after they score!-Did we know that Denis Hamlet was an assistant coach for Vancouver?

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DC v Colu:-Robbie Rogers started on the bench for the Crew. Not good.-Charlie Davies did not start for DC either. But he came on in the 52nd minute and more than made up for it with a penalty kick and a second goal on a defensive blunder. What a start!-Josh Wolff was nothing short of amazing for DC.-Chad Marshall had an awful game. Let Wolff off the hook on the first DC goal and fell down on the third. Oof.

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Hou v Phil:-Will Bruin is the first rookie to ever make the starting 11 on opening day for Houston.-Carlos Ruiz starts for Philly. 2 things - he is thin and looks in shape - and - he clocks someone with an elbow worthy of at least a yellow, maybe red, and he gets neither! NOTE: He got a yellow card.-PU got a goal in the 5th minute that stood up. Their defense last year would not have held that lead.-Danny Mwanga started on the bench for Philly, but you have to wonder if Ruiz can hold the starting job over such a talented young player. Mwanga will learn how to be a pro now.

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SJE v RSL:-The rain makes all the players look like drowned rats! And no one could stay on their feet either.-Kyle Beckerman had two great long range shots, the second of which found the net for the games only goal.

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Dal v Chic:-My DVR literally taped 3 minutes of this, so I saw the intro to the pregame and that was it.-On the internets I did that back heel goal that Milton Rodriguez scored. A true thing of beauty, and my fave goal of the weekend.

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Chiv v KC:-KC scored within a minute or two awful some horrible Goat defending. Oof.-Mondaini looks really good for Chivas. Who is this guy?-Omar Bravo got his first goal off a gaff by Snacks Thornton, and then Kei Kamara sacrificed his whole body to set up the second one. Both were expertly finished by Bravo. Well done.

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Colo v Port:-Rapids get the silver ball this season as champions. It looks great.-Wow! Adin Brown in goal for Portland. How far has Troy Perkins fallen when a guy who has barely played for 3 or 4 years beats him out for the starting job. NOTE: Troy Perkins is injured.-Casey & Cummings pick up right where last year ended. They are a monster duo.-The only thing Frankencooper about Kenny's game was his green shirt. Toughen up buddy.

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NY v Sea:-Steve Zakuani did not travel with the Sounders. They say he is injured, but I don't know what ails him.-Kasey added another page to his legend by stopping a Thierry Henry PK! Awesome.-Fredy Montero beat Tim Ream three times but agonizingly missed scoring every time.-The ref is using the spray to mark off 10 yards on free kicks. (I just wrote "10 years on free kicks")-Juan Agudelo was a beast on the goal he scored, fighting off a defender with a great shoulder barge, and then curling the ball with the outside of his foot to the far post. A thing of beauty.

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NE v LA-A 3rd minute goal for Shalrie. That guys works so hard in the box. Its really too bad that he doesn't have any good teammates anymore.-I see Bruce Arena is wearing a trucker hat these days. Must be hanging out with Aston Kutcher again.-Marko Perovic came off injured in the 22nd min for New England. It looked like a thigh muscle injury.-Juan Pablo Angel finally got on the field late in the game for LA. Why was Chad Barrett starting again? I wonder if you can get Vegas odds on how many he will miss per game?-Juninho had another bomb of a goal for LA, making it 2 in 2 games that were total golazos!

Stuart Holden was badly injured on Saturday almost 1 year to the day from when he had his leg broken by a horrible tackle, this time he got his knee gashed open by a Man U goon. He could be out for quite a while.

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Clint Dempsey scored for Fulham in a losing effort.

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Zak Whitbread got his first goal for Norwich.

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Mo Edu & Rangers won the League Cup over Celtic. (Not to be confused with the bigger Scottish FA Cup.)

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Timothy Chandler has had a lot of firsts in 2011 and this weekend he got his first Red Card. He got one yellow in the 54th and less than minutes later was booted from the game. And they lost.

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Chris Rolfe got his first start in aaaaaaaaaaaaages.

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Mix Diskeruud and Josh Gatt probably wish the Norwegian season started some other weekend as they both lost badly, Diskeruud 0-7 at home, and Gatt 3-0 on the road, on opening day.

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Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro LeagueSacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - started but was subbed out at half time as they won 3-2 v Gent.

BULGARIA - A PFGJemal Johnson - Lokomotiv Sofia - played the full game but lost 0-3 v Minyor Pernik.

DENMARK - SuperligaMichael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - on the bench as they lost 1-2 v Esbjerg.Chris Rolfe - AaB - started and played the first half getting a yellow card as they won 1-2 at Lyngby.

ENGLAND - Premier LeagueMichael Bradley - Aston Villa - on the bench as they lost 0-1 at Wolverhampton.Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the whole game scoring a goal but lost 2-1 at Everton.Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - in goal as usual but lost 0-1 at Wolverhampton.Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - on the bench as they won 0-1 at Aston Villa.Stuart Holden - Bolton - started but was injured and subbed out in the 78th min as they lost 1-0 at Manchester United.Tim Howard - Everton - played the full game and won 2-1 v Fulham.Jermaine Jones - Blackburn - went the distance as they tied 2-2 v Blackpool.Jonathan Spector - West Ham - did not dress as they drew 0-0 at Tottenham.

ENGLAND - Championship LeagueConor Doyle - Derby County - on the bench as they drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace.Brad Guzan - Hull City - played the whole game as they tied 1-1 v Norwich.Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - started and played 74 min as they won 2-1 v Coventry.Eric Lichaj - Leeds - played the entire game but scored an own goal as they lost 2-0 at Sheffield United.Zak Whitbread - Norwich - went the full 90 scoring a goal and getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 at Hull.

ENGLAND - League OneMike Grella - Swindon Town - started and went 62 min as they drew 0-0 at Huddersfield.Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - went the distance but lost 0-1 v Rochdale.Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the whole game and won 1-0 v Bournemouth.

FRANCE - Ligue 1Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - started and subbed out in the 54th min as they drew 0-0 at Lorient.

GERMANY - BundesligaTimothy Chandler - Nurnberg - started but 2 yellow cards saw him ejected from the game as they lost 1-3 v Werder Bremen.Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance as they won 2-0 v Hoffenheim.Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - started but was subbed out at the 61 min mark after getting a yellow card but they won 2-1 v St Pauli.Daniel Williams - Freiburg -

GERMANY - 2 BundesligaEdson Buddle - Ingolstadt - started and went 76 mid as they drew 1-1 v Hertha.Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - on the bench as they drew 1-1 at Ingolstadt.Luis Robles - Karlsruher - on the bench (luckily for him) as they lost 5-1 at 1860.Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - on the bench as they won 5-1 v Karlsruher.David Yelldell - Duisburg - in goal for another clean sheet winning 1-0 v Fortuna Dusseldorf.

NETHERLANDS - EredivisieOguchi Onyewu - Twente - on the bench as they won 0-2 at Excelsior.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste DivisieCharles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - came on as a sub in the 66th min as they won 2-4 at FC Eindhoven.

NORWAY - Eliteserien - season opened this weekendMikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - went the distance but lost 0-7 v Lillestrom.Josh Gatt - Molde - came on as a sub in the 57th min but they lost 3-0 at Sarpsborg.

RUSSIA - Premier DivisionYevgeni Starikov - Tom Tomsk - started but came off at half time as they lost 0-1 v Kuban Krasnodar.

SCOTLAND - League Cup - FinalMo Edu - Rangers - went the distance as they won the Cup 1-2.

TURKEY - Super LigJozy Altidore - Bursaspor - came on as a sub at half time but the game ended scoreless v Ankaragucu.

TURKEY - 1. LigFreddie Adu - Caykur Rizespor - started and went 62 min scoring the winning goal as they were victorious 0-2 at Akhisar Belediyespor.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Only 2 Americans played in the top division this weekend. And they were both at struggling Pachuca. Not good.

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISIONJonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - riding the pine in a scoreless draw at Tecos.Edgar Castillo - Puebla - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Necaxa.Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - came on after half time getting a yellow card as they drew 0-0 at Pumas.Jose Torres - Pachuca - went the full 90 as they drew 0-0 at UNAM Pumas.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - played the entire match as they won 2-0 v Pumas Morelos.Marco Vidal - Leon - went the full 90 as they won 2-0 v Orizaba.

MEXICO

After 11 of 17 rounds played these eight teams would be in the Playoffs:Group A20 Tigres19 MonterreyGroup B16 Atlante16 San LuisGroup C25 Pumas21 MoreliaWildcards21 Cruz Azul16 America

ENGLAND

Recap du Nord: #1 Man U won and increased their lead over #2 Arsenal who could only tie. Then Chelsea beat Man City and they switched places at #3 & #4. Tottenham drew and stayed in 5th place.

Recap du Nord: Lille won to stay on top and actully open up a little lead as #2 & #3 played to a tie dropping them both down a notch and allowing #4 Marseille who won (over #5 PSG) to leap frog them both up to 2nd place. Nicely done. PSG who lost stay 5th.

Recap du Nord: The standings don't change but with #1 Dortmund getting another tie and #2 Leverkusen another win the lead is down to 7 points with 7 games to play. 3rd place Hannover and 4th place Bayern both won and 5th place Mainz are the team that tied Dortmund.

Recap du Nord: #1 Milan lost while the others in the top 5 all won bringing the lead over #2 Inter down to just 2 points, and wouldn't you know it they play each other when the league resumes on Sat Apr 2!

Regarding Hamlet at Vancouver- I didnt hear anything about it from news sources anywhere. did you know that he spent the last year coaching at Illinois Institute of Technology? They're an NAIA team in Chicago.